Judy Shepard

Home (2012)

Actors: Greg Rogers (actor), Howard Siegel (actor), Lawrence Lam (miscellaneous crew), Lawrence Lam (costume designer), Lawrence Lam (producer), Lawrence Lam (editor), Aislyn Watson (actress), Aga Postawska (actress), Jermaine Lopez (actor), Lawrence Lam (writer), Jermaine Lopez (actor), Lawrence Lam (director), Ron Raymundo (miscellaneous crew), Ludvik Skalicky (actor), Genevieve Garon (actor),

Plot: Inspired by a true story around poverty in Vancouver, Canada. George Shepard has lost everything; love, work, and his mind. A stranger tries to convince him of positive thinking, and good luck, but it is the unluckiest occurrence that these unknowingly connected strangers meet.

Genres: Action, Crime, Drama, Short,

The Matthew Shepard Story (2002)

Actors: Sam Waterston (actor), Goldie Hawn (producer), Mychael Danna (composer), Jeff Danna (composer), Roger Spottiswoode (director), Scott Wickware (actor), Stockard Channing (actress), Wendy Crewson (actress), Richard Blackburn (actor), Jim Codrington (actor), Judah Katz (actor), Dominique Fortin (editor), Peter Sussman (producer), Neale Joudrie (miscellaneous crew), Don Bachmann (miscellaneous crew),

Plot: In 1998, a young gay man by the name of Matthew Shepard was robbed, viciously beaten and left tied to a fence to die. Although he was soon found by the police and hospitalized, he soon expired. This film recounts the events after the conviction of the two men responsible for this hate motivated murder. Matthew's parents, though satisfied by the conviction, are finding the sentencing phase of the trial more difficult. The parents initially want to request the death penalty for their son's murderers, but the mother, Judy, starts to reconsider. As they struggle with their decision, they decide to reexamine the life of their son and rediscover his personality, his struggle to accept his homosexual sexual orientation as a natural part of his being and above all, his generous humanity to others. All of this leads the parents to appeal to the court the way their son would have wanted, not out of vengeance but to represent best of what their son was and the tragedy of his loss.

Keywords: based-on-true-story, beaten-to-death, beating, character-name-in-title, death, death-of-hero, gay-bashing, gay-hero, gay-interest, gay-lead-character
Genres: Drama,
Taglines: A hate crime that forever changed the nation.

The Laramie Project (2002)

Actors: Clea DuVall (actress), Janeane Garofalo (actress), Mark Webber (actor), Richard Riehle (actor), Joshua Jackson (actor), Ellen DeGeneres (actress), Bill Irwin (actor), Dylan Baker (actor), Steve Buscemi (actor), Clancy Brown (actor), Tom Bower (actor), Bill Clinton (actor), Peter Fonda (actor), Amy Madigan (actress), Laura Linney (actress),

Plot: 'Moisés Kaufman' (qv) and members of New York's Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of 'Matthew Shepard (I)' (qv). This is a film version of the play they wrote based on more than 200 interviews they conducted in Laramie. It follows and in some cases re-enacts the chronology of Shepard's visit to a local bar, his kidnap and beating, the discovery of him tied to a fence, the vigil at the hospital, his death and funeral, and the trial of his killers. It mixes real news reports with actors portraying friends, family, cops, killers, and other Laramie residents in their own words. It concludes with a Laramie staging of "Angels in America" a year after Shephard's death.

Keywords: activism, activist, angel, anger, anxiety, bar, based-on-play, based-on-true-story, beating, begging-for-your-life
Genres: Crime, Drama,
Taglines: When a small town comes face to face with murder, everybody has a tale to tell. Everyone Carries a Piece of the Truth.

Quotes:

[last lines]::Doc O'Conner: I remembered something to myself. The night he and I drove around together, he said, 'Laramie sparkles, doesn't it?' And where he was in that spot up there, if you sit exactly in that spot up there, Laramie sparkles. With the low-lying clouds, it's - uh - it's the blue lights that bounce off the clouds. And it goes over the whole city. I mean, I mean, it blows you away. And Matt was right there in that spot. And I can just picture - in his eyes - what he was seeing. And the last thing that he saw on this Earth was the sparkling lights of Laramie, Wyoming.

Dennis Shepard: My son, Matthew, did not look like a winner. He was rather uncoordinated and wore braces from the age of 13 until the day he died. However in his all-too-brief life, he proved that he was a winner. On October 6th 1998, he tried to show the world he could win again. On October 12th 1998, my first born son, and my hero, lost. On October 12th 1998, my first born son, and my hero, died. 50 days before his 22nd birthday. I keep wondering the same thing that I did when I first saw him in the hospital. What would he have become? How could he have changed his piece of the world to make it better? Matt officially died in a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. He actually died on the outskirts of Laramie, tied to a fence. You, Mr. McKinney, with your friend Mr. Henderson, left him there, by himself. But he was not alone. There were his lifelong friends with him, friends that he had grown up with. You're probably wondering who these friends were. First he had the beautiful night sky and the same stars and moon we used to see through a telescope. Then he had the daylight and the sun to shine on him. And through it all, he was breathing in the scent of the pine trees from the snowy range. He heard the wind, the ever present Wyoming wind for the last time. He had one more friend with him. He had God. And I feel better, knowing he wasn't alone. Matt's beating, hospitalization, and funeral focused worldwide attention on hate. Good is coming out of evil. People have said, 'Enough is enough.' I miss my son, but I am proud to be able to say that he was my son. Judy has been quoted as being against the death penalty. It has been stated that Matt was against the death penalty. Both of these statements are false. I, too, believe in the death penalty. I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney. However, this is the time to begin the healing process, to show mercy to someone who refused to show any mercy. Mr. McKinney, I am going to grant you life, as hard as it is to do so, because of Matthew. Everytime you celebrate Christmas, a birthday, the 4th of July, remember that Matt isn't. Everytime that you wake up in your prison cell, remember you had the opportunity and the ability to stop your actions that night. You robbed me of something very precious and I will never forgive you for that. Mr. McKinney, I give you life in the memory of someone who no longer lives. May you have a long life. And may you thank Matthew everyday for it.

Rulon Stacey: [ready to make a statement with the hospital staff looking at the gathered crowd outside] Oh, my God... Anybody else wanna do this?

Stephen Belber: 'Live and let live' is, at best, a load of crap. It basically boils down to: 'If I don't tell you I'm a fag, you won't beat the crap out of me'. What kind of philosophy is that?